Smile Hair Clinic - Istanbul

Since your mustache hair loss occurred due to an accident and it has already been over a year, you are very likely a suitable candidate for a facial hair transplant — even at the age of 19. Traumatic hair loss (like from burns, cuts, or deep wounds) is quite different from genetic or hormonal causes, and if the skin in that area has fully healed and there is no active inflammation or scarring that prevents graft survival, a transplant can be performed safely.

Based on your description, it sounds like you're experiencing gradual hairline recession, which is common, especially with a family history of male pattern baldness. Since your hair is thick in the back and on the sides, you seem to have a good donor area, which is essential for a hair transplant.

Considering you don’t have much hair loss elsewhere and the recession is relatively stable, you're likely a good candidate for a hairline restoration. However, we'd need to assess the situation further with a proper consultation, as we would want to ensure your donor area has enough density to achieve a natural result.

Since your hairline has been gradually receding, you might want to consider starting with non-surgical treatments like finasteride or minoxidil to stabilize your hairline before proceeding with a transplant, or to combine them with the transplant for enhanced results.

First of all, I’m really sorry you’re going through this. IPL (intense pulsed light) isn’t meant for the hairline, and it sounds like you’ve been incredibly patient trying to recover what was lost.
Now to the point:

Yes, hair transplantation in such an area is quite possible, even if there is ‘live but weak’ hair left there. The main thing is to assess whether this hair will actually recover or whether it has already been permanently miniaturised. In practice, if nearly a year has passed and the hair is still thin, light and ‘fluffy’, then most likely it will not return to its previous appearance. And discontinuing minoxidil will cause these fluffy hairs to regress.

The good news is that such areas can be covered with a transplant, especially if they spoil the symmetry or stand out visually. Thin vellus hair will not interfere with the engraftment of new grafts; on the contrary, it is often simply ‘rubbed out’ by the new volume.

So if you have been treating for a year and there are no results, it may be time to consider transplantation as a real option. If you want, you can evaluate the photos and understand how realistic it is to fix this and how many grafts may be needed. You are definitely not alone, and such cases can be resolved.

Thank you for writing, and it's great that the melanoma was removed at an early stage — that's the main thing.

Now to the point: yes, hair transplantation to this area is entirely possible, even if the skin there is slightly thinner than the rest of the head. The fact that the area has blood flow and has healed well is a very good sign. Usually, it is precisely these areas that are suitable for transplantation.

By the way, even scar tissue can be transplanted with hair — this is done quite often. But it is important to understand that in such cases, the percentage of engraftment may be slightly lower because the blood supply in scar tissue is weaker. In rare cases, with very poor blood flow, even localised tissue death (necrosis) is possible — that is why such areas need to be evaluated particularly carefully.

It all comes down to several factors:

How pronounced the scar itself is

Its thickness and elasticity

The general condition of the skin and the body

And, of course, who performs the transplant and how

For our part, we can say that we have performed transplant operations on scarred areas many times and know how to work with them as delicately and effectively as possible.

If the transplant was in the forehead and temple area, it is advisable not to touch the grafts for the first 7–10 days — even a soft fabric such as a bandana can disrupt their fixation or cause friction. During this period, the skin is still healing, and any contact can cause harm.

But after 10 days, when the scabs have fallen off and the skin looks calm, you can carefully put on a loose, non-pressing bandana, the main thing is that it:

does not rub against the hairline and temples,

does not squeeze the head,

is easy to remove without touching the skin.

By the way, if you have slightly longer hair on top, this is a great way to cover the transplant line. Just let it fall freely forward without fixing it with gel or a comb, and it will gently cover the desired area without harming the grafts.

So, yes, wait a little while, and then you can cover it with either your hair or a neat piece of fabric.